[2] RWJF has been credited with helping to develop the 911 emergency system, reducing tobacco use among Americans, lowering rates of unwanted teenage pregnancies, and improving perceptions of hospice care.
[2] The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation supports the development of programs that can be used in community-led initiatives or by government bodies,[3] funds research through surveys and polls, [4] and makes impact investments.
Then-president David E. Rogers established a partnership with the National Academy of Sciences to increase oversight of how the funds were used and assess project outcomes.
[11] In 1985, the foundation partnered with The Pew Charitable Trusts to launch a new program to improve access to health care for the American homeless population.
[19] Between 1991 and 2003, the foundation spent approximately $408 million on a variety of tobacco-related programs, including awareness campaigns on smoking cessation and the negative effects of tobacco use.
The foundation's Center for Tobacco-Free Kids was asked to participate as a "disinterested and trustworthy party" in state litigation leading up to the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement of 1998.
The study led to the formation of several groups by the foundation, including Last Acts, 900 entities that have drafted best practices for palliative care.
By 2007, more than 500 hospitals throughout the U.S. had palliative care programs, most of which were created after the foundation and George Soros's Open Society Institute began research and advocacy efforts.
[22] In the early 2000s, under the leadership of Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, the foundation prioritized childhood obesity, and pledged of $1 billion for research and advocacy to raise awareness on the topic.
As early as 2003, the foundation was working in Louisville, Kentucky, providing more than $740,000 in grants between 2003 and 2011 to make infrastructure updates that encourage physical activity, such as widening sidewalks and adding the city's first bicycle lane.
[24] The foundation also continued to work on eldercare topics and provided funding for the Green House Project, a non-profit that offers a long-term care alternative to nursing homes.
[26] A 2017 study on Green House nursing homes funded by the foundation found that while imperfect, the model had better outcomes for residents, including fewer hospitalizations and a lower occurrence of conditions such as pressure ulcers.
[32] Over time, the foundation added coaches and competitions to the program to support communities' efforts to improve local health.
This was done in response to growing evidence showing that social factors and individuals' actions could affect a population's health more than the quality of medical treatment.
When describing the changes at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Lavizzo-Mourey said, “We have to make a seismic shift in the way we deal with health, and it has to come from the ground up.” [35] A 2017 survey conducted by RWJF, NPR, and Harvard T.H.
In an address given at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, Besser pointed to where people live, recreate, and work as well as access to healthy food and livable wages, and removal of cultural barriers as important factors in individual health.
[42][43] The foundation also has ongoing surveys with the Rand Corporation, one of which found that many Americans agree that minority communities have been more affected by the pandemic, but do not believe structural racism is a barrier to health.
Besser previously worked as the medical editor for ABC News and acting director of the Centers for Disease Control.